Insufficient sleep is linked to increased stress and suboptimal self-control; however, no studies have examined stress as a reason for why sleep affects self-control. Moreover, it is unknown if there are individual differences that make people vulnerable to this dynamic. Daily diary entries from 212 university students across 30 days were used in a multilevel path model examining if stress explained how prior night sleep affected next-day self-control difficulties and exploring if individual differences in sleep duration, stress, or self-control qualified this effect. Increased stress partially mediated of the effect of reduced sleep duration on increased next-day self-control difficulty. Moreover, short sleep increased next-day stress more for individuals with higher typical stress. Daytime stress especially amplified self-control difficulty for individuals with shorter typical sleep duration. Findings implicate stress as a substantial factor in how sleep loss undermines self-control and identify individuals particularly susceptible to this effect.
AkerstedtT.AxelssonJ.LekanderM.OrsiniN.KecklundG. (2014). Do sleep, stress, and illness explain daily variations in fatigue? A prospective study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 76, 280-285.
2.
ArnstenA. F. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 410-422.
3.
ArnstenA.MazureC. M.SinhaR. (2012). This is your brain in meltdown. Scientific American, 306, 48-53.
4.
BarnesC. M.DrakeC. L. (2015). Prioritizing sleep health: Public health policy recommendations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, 733-737.
5.
BarnesC. M.LucianettiL.BhaveD. P.ChristianM. S. (2015). “You wouldn’t like me when I’m sleepy”: Leaders’ sleep, daily abusive supervision, and work unit engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 58, 1419-1437.
6.
BarnesC. M.SchaubroeckJ.HuthM.GhummanS. (2011). Lack of sleep and unethical conduct. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115, 169-180.
7.
BaronK. G.ReidK. J.ZeeP. C. (2013). Exercise to improve sleep in insomnia: Exploration of the bidirectional effects. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9, 819-824.
8.
BaumK. T.DesaiA.FieldJ.MillerL. E.RauschJ.BeebeD. W. (2014). Sleep restriction worsens mood and emotion regulation in adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55, 180-190.
9.
BertramsA.UngerA.DickhäuserO. (2011). Momentarily available self-control strength—Introduction of a measure and first findings from educational-psychological contexts. Zeitschrift fir Pädagogische Psychologie, 25, 185-196.
10.
BoonstraT. W.StinsJ. F.DaffertshoferA.BeekP. J. (2007). Effects of sleep deprivation on neural functioning: An integrative review. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 64, 934-946.
11.
BrantleyP. J.CockeT. B.JonesG. N.GorecznyA. J. (1988). The Daily Stress Inventory: Validity and effect of repeated administration. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 10, 75-81.
12.
BrownS. M.HenningS.WellmanC. L. (2005). Mild, short-term stress alters dendritic morphology in rat medial prefrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 1714-1722.
13.
ChristianM. S.EllisA. P. (2011). Examining the effects of sleep deprivation on workplace deviance: A self-regulatory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 54, 913-934.
14.
CiaroccoN.TwengeJ.MuravenM.TiceD. (2009). The State Self-Control Capacity Scale: Reliability, validity, and correlations with physical and psychological stress. Unpublished Manuscript, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.
15.
CraneC. A.TestaM.DerrickJ. L.LeonardK. E. (2014). Daily associations among self-control, heavy episodic drinking, and relationship functioning: An examination of actor and partner effects. Aggressive Behavior, 40, 440-450.
16.
DeHartT.Longua PetersonJ.RichesonJ. A.HamiltonH. R. (2014). A diary study of daily perceived mistreatment and alcohol consumption in college students. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36, 443-451.
17.
De RidderD. T.Lensvelt-MuldersG.FinkenauerC.StokF. M.BaumeisterR. F. (2012). Taking stock of self-control: A meta-analysis of how trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16, 76-99.
18.
De Witt HubertsJ. C.EversC.De RidderD. T. (2014). “Because I am worth it”: A theoretical framework and empirical review of a justification-based account of self-regulation failure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 18, 119-138.
19.
DiestelS.RivkinW.SchmidtK. H. (2015). Sleep quality and self-control capacity as protective resources in the daily emotional labor process: Results from two diary studies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 809-827.
20.
DingesD. F.PackF.WilliamsK.GillenK. A.PowellJ. W.OttG. E.. . . PackA. I. (1997). Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4−5 hours per night. Sleep, 20, 267-277.
21.
Engle-FriedmanM.RielaS.GolanR.VentuneacA. M.DavisC. M.JeffersonA. D.MajorD. (2003). The effect of sleep loss on next day effort. Journal of Sleep Research, 12, 113-124.
22.
GoldbergL. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4, 26-42.
23.
HirotsuC.TufikS.AndersenM. L. (2015). Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. Sleep Science, 8, 143-152.
24.
HirshkowitzM.WhitonK.AlbertS. M.AlessiC.BruniO.DonCarlosL.
… NeubauerD. N. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: Methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1, 40-43.
25.
HislerG.KrizanZ. (2017). Anger tendencies and sleep: Poor anger control is associated with objectively measured sleep disruption. Journal of Research in Personality, 71, 17-26.
26.
HockeyG. R. J.WastellD. G.SauerJ. (1998). Effects of sleep deprivation and user interface on complex performance: A multilevel analysis of compensatory control. Human Factors, 40, 233-253.
27.
HockeyR. (2013). Psychology of fatigue: Work, effort and control. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
28.
HofmannW.BaumeisterR. F.FörsterG.VohsK. D. (2012). Everyday temptations: An experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and self-control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1318-1335.
29.
HofmannW.RauchW.GawronskiB. (2007). And deplete us not into temptation: Automatic attitudes, dietary restraint, and self-regulatory resources as determinants of eating behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 497-504.
30.
InzlichtM.McKayL.AronsonJ. (2006). Stigma as ego depletion: How being the target of prejudice affects self-control. Psychological Science, 17, 262-269.
31.
InzlichtM.SchmeichelB. J.MacraeC. N. (2014). Why self-control seems (but may not be) limited. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 127-133.
32.
KillgoreW. D. (2010). Effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. Progress in Brain Research, 185, 105-129.
33.
KotabeH. P.HofmannW. (2015). On integrating the components of self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, 618-638.
34.
KrizanZ.HislerG. (2016). The essential role of sleep in self-regulation. In VohsK. D.BaumeisterR. F. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (3rd ed., pp. 182-202). New York, NY: John Wiley.
35.
KroeseF. M.EversC.AdriaanseM. A.de RidderD. T. (2016). Bedtime procrastination: A self-regulation perspective on sleep insufficiency in the general population. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 853-862.
36.
KühnelJ.SonnentagS.BledowR.MelchersK. G. (2018). The relevance of sleep and circadian misalignment for procrastination among shift workers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91, 110-133.
37.
LanajK.JohnsonR. E.BarnesC. M. (2014). Beginning the workday yet already depleted? Consequences of late-night smartphone use and sleep. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 124, 11-23.
38.
LarsenR. J.DienerE. (1992). Promises and problems with the circumplex model of emotion. In ClarkM. S. (Ed.), Emotion: Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 13, pp. 25-59). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
39.
MaierS. U.MakwanaA. B.HareT. A. (2015). Acute stress impairs self-control in goal-directed choice by altering multiple functional connections within the brain’s decision circuits. Neuron, 87, 621-631.
40.
MaussI. B.TroyA. S.LeBourgeoisM. K. (2013). Poorer sleep quality is associated with lower emotion-regulation ability in a laboratory paradigm. Cognition and Emotion, 27, 567-576.
41.
MeerloP.SgoifoA.SucheckiD. (2008). Restricted and disrupted sleep: Effects on autonomic function, neuroendocrine stress systems and stress responsivity. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 12, 197-210.
42.
MinkelJ.MoretaM.MutoJ.HtaikO.JonesC.BasnerM.DingesD. (2014). Sleep deprivation potentiates HPA axis stress reactivity in healthy adults. Health Psychology, 33, 1430-1434.
43.
MinkelJ. D.BanksS.HtaikO.MoretaM. C.JonesC. W.McGlincheyE. L.. . . DingesD. F. (2012). Sleep deprivation and stressors: Evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors when sleep deprived. Emotion, 12, 1015-1020.
44.
MuravenM.CollinsR. L.ShiffmanS.PatyJ. A. (2005). Daily fluctuations in self-control demands and alcohol intake. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 140.
45.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2012). Mplus Version 7 user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Author.
46.
OatenM.ChengK. (2005). Academic examination stress impairs self-control. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 24, 254-279.
47.
ParkC. L.WrightB. R.PaisJ.RayD. M. (2016). Daily stress and self-control. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 35, 738-753.
48.
PilcherJ. J.GinterD. R.SadowskyB. (1997). Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: Relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 42, 583-596.
49.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.LeeJ.-Y.PodsakoffN. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.
50.
PreacherK. J.CurranP. J.BauerD. J. (2006). Computational tools for probing interaction effects in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31, 437-448.
51.
RaudenbushS. W.BrykA. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
52.
ScherbaumC. A.FerreterJ. M. (2009). Estimating statistical power and required sample sizes for organizational research using multilevel modeling. Organizational Research Methods, 12, 347-367.
53.
SchondubeA.BertramsA.SudeckG.FuchsR. (2017). Self-control strength and physical exercise: An ecological momentary assessment study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 29, 19-26.
54.
SchoofsD.PreußD.WolfO. T. (2008). Psychosocial stress induces working memory impairments in an n-back paradigm. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33, 643-653.
55.
ShengX.WangY.HongW.ZhuZ.ZhangX. (2017). The curvilinear relationship between daily time pressure and work engagement: The role of psychological capital and sleep. International Journal of Stress Management. Advance online publication.
56.
SimonsJ. S.WillsT. A.EmeryN. N.SpelmanP. J. (2016). Keep calm and carry on: Maintaining self-control when intoxicated, upset, or depleted. Cognition and Emotion, 30, 1415-1429.
57.
SmythJ. M.WonderlichS. A.SliwinskiM. J.CrosbyR. D.EngelS. G.MitchellJ. E.CalogeroR. M. (2009). Ecological momentary assessment of affect, stress, and binge-purge behaviors: Day of week and time of day effects in the natural environment. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 42, 429-436.
58.
SpiegelK.LeproultR.Van CauterE. (1999). Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function. The Lancet, 354, 1435-1439.
59.
TangneyJ. P.BaumeisterR. F.BooneA. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271-324.
60.
Van DongenH. P.MaislinG.MullingtonJ. M.DingesD. F. (2003). The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: Dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. Sleep, 26, 117-126.
61.
Van DongenH. P.VitellaroK. M.DingesD. F. (2005). Individual differences in adult human sleep and wakefulness: Leitmotif for a research agenda. Sleep, 28, 479-498.
62.
VyasA.MitraR.RaoB. S.ChattarjiS. (2002). Chronic stress induces contrasting patterns of dendritic remodeling in hippocampal and amygdaloid neurons. Journal of Neuroscience, 22, 6810-6818.
63.
WatsonD.ClarkA. L.TellegenA. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063-1070.
64.
WatsonD.PennebakerJ. W. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological Review, 96, 234-254.
65.
WilliamsP. G.CribbetM. R.RauH. K.GunnH. E.CzajkowskiL. A. (2013). The effects of poor sleep on cognitive, affective, and physiological responses to a laboratory stressor. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 46, 40-51.
66.
YuenE. Y.WeiJ.LiuW.ZhongP.LiX.YanZ. (2012). Repeated stress causes cognitive impairment by suppressing glutamate receptor expression and function in prefrontal cortex. Neuron, 73, 962-977.
67.
ZoharD.TzischinskyO.EpsteinR.LavieP. (2005). The effects of sleep loss on medical residents’ emotional reactions to work events: A cognitive-energy model. Sleep, 28, 47-54.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
